Valley talk, a Gold extension: Five things you need to know in No. Smithfield this week

A photo of the 1971 Centennial Parade in North Smithfield, one of thousands shared with director Christian de Rezendes for his docu-series Slatersville.

Slatersville virtual Valley Talk

Filmmaker Christian de Rezendes will present a segment of his documentary on Slatersville on Wednesday, May 6 in a virtual event sponsored by the Museum of Work & Culture. The event, part of the museum’s Virtual Valley Talks series will begin at 4 p.m. with a presentation of Slatersville: The Catholics are Coming! The talks are a series of free virtual historical lectures offered by the museum.

de Rezendes will discuss the complexities of filmmaking and producing through the lens of Slatersville: America’s First Mill Village. He has been working on the series, which will cover two centuries of history, for several years. Though the series is not set to premiere until 2021, de Rezendes will share a work-in-progress segment highlighting the French-Canadian immigration and the Museum of Work and Culture during his presentation.

The preview will include on-camera interviews with MoWC Director Anne Conway, Woonsocket historian Ray Bacon and several others. Filmmaker Jason Allard, who provided drone footage for the project, will also speak.

To date, de Rezendes’s work has received more than 35 filmmaking awards. Many of his twenty plus directing credits have been broadcast on PBS and screened internationally at film festivals.

Allard is a filmmaker from Woonsocket who loves to create everything from music videos to full length documentaries. His most recent project is a series called “Abandoned from Above”, tracing interesting abandoned locations throughout New England with his drone.

Register to receive an invitation to this Zoom event by emailing mowc@rihs.org.

Ramp closures

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation will be paving on Route 146 from the Rhode Island line to the Mill Street overpass in Uxbridge this week. Paving will be done between 7:30 a.m and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and will come with lane and ramp closures.

The Route 146 northbound on-ramp and off-ramp at Exit 1 will be closed. Motorists will be detoured to Chocolog Road.

The Route 146 southbound on-ramp and off-ramp from Exit 1 will be closed. Motorists can get on Route 146 farther south on Route 146A. Motorists can get off Route 146 at the exit for Routes 5 and 102 and follow detour signs onto Route 146A.

The Route 146 northbound and southbound off-ramps at Exit 2 will be closed. Northbound motorists will be detoured to Exit 3 and can follow detour signs to reverse direction. Southbound motorists will be detoured to Exit 1 and Route 146A.

The Route 146 southbound on-ramp at Exit 2 also will be closed. Motorists will be detoured to an access point farther south from Route 146A.

Fireworks cancelled

Due to the Gov. Gina Raimondo’s ongoing prohibition of large crowds, North Smithfield’s third annual Fourth of July fireworks display will be postponed.

“We will try to plan something for the fall but if things don’t change by then we will have the biggest and best celebration yet in July 2021,” John Beauregard said.

Gold extends hiking invitation

Owner David Gold has extended the invitation for hiking on his property, a 140-acre forest on Mattity Road, through Wednesday, May 13. The property includes six miles of trails, and is well-marked with many scenic views.

A proposal for the property that would see a solar farm installed on a portion of the land, and the remainder gifted to the town, is expected to be discussed at an upcoming virtual Planning Board meeting. Details of the meeting will be posted here once they become available.

Town meetings

The North Smithfield Town Council will hold a virtual meeting on Monday, May 4 starting at 6:45 p.m. The agenda, and instructions for how to join the meeting by phone or computer, can be found here.